Worship - Sunday, March 13

I want you to see what God is doing in this passage, and I want you to see what God is doing in this passage. I want you to see what God is doing in this passage. I want you to see what God is doing in this passage. I want you to see what God is doing in this passage. I want you to see what God is doing in this passage. I want you to see what God is doing in this passage. I want you to see what God is doing in this passage.

I want you to see what God is doing in this passage. I want you to see what God is doing in this passage. I want you to see what God is doing in this passage. I want you to see what God is doing in this passage. I want you to see what God is doing in this passage. I want you to see what God is doing in this passage. I want you to see what God is doing in this passage.

That'll be good for later when we all want to take a nap. All right. Maybe. Good to go, Brandon? Okay. Okay, we're going to get started today reading together out of Hebrews. So if we want to go ahead and stand, we're going to be reading Hebrews 4:14-16 together. And it begins, "Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then, with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. God, we thank you for the opportunity to gather here today.

Thank you for those that are able to watch online with us, and we thank you for the sunshine this morning after a cold and snowy day yesterday. And we just thank you that we were able to wake up this morning and be able to gather and worship you. We ask that you be with our service today and allow it to glorify you. In Jesus' name. Amen. All right. Our first Song to get started today is going to be "Holy, Holy, Holy." Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty. Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee. Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty, God in three Persons, Blessed Trinity. Holy, Holy, Holy, All the saints adore Thee. Casting down their golden crowns around the glossy sea. Cherubim and seraphim, falling down before me. Who was then God, and evermore shall be? Holy, Holy, Holy, Though the dark

the darkness hide me, though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see. Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee, perfect in power, in love and purity. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, all Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea. Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty, God in three Persons, Blessed Trinity.

Let's go to our prayer and share time next. If you would like, when you're watching online, there will be a slide up with a phone number to text. If you have anything you'd like to share with us, please text that number so we can do that here together. We will be muted here during that time while we are sharing with each other, and so give us a few minutes. There'll be some music playing, and then we will be back after that to move on in our service. And so as we continue in that, we're going to be singing "Who You Say I Am." "Who am I that the highest King would welcome me? I was lost, but He brought me in. Oh, His love for me. Oh, His love for me. Oh, His love for me.

Oh, the Son sets free. Oh, is free indeed. I'm a child of God. Yes, I am. Sweet last He has ransomed me. His grace runs deep. While I was a slave to sin, Jesus died for me. Yes, He died for me. Who the sun sets free? Who is free indeed? I'm a child of God. Yes, I am. In my Father's house, there's a place for me. I'm a child of God. Yes, I am. There's a place for me. I'm a child of God. Yes, I am. I am chosen, not forsaken. I am who you say I am. You are for me, not against me. I am who you say I am. Who the Son sets free? Who is free indeed? I'm a child of God. Yes, I am. In my Father's house, there's a place for me. I'm a child of God. Yes, I am. You may be seated. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.

Thanks, Russell. As we move into our time of communion, we were hoping Neil would be here because we couldn't remember if this was his favorite song or the song we're singing later is his favorite song. But anyway, it's a really good song, and it just kind of reminds us how we're never alone in this walk in our life through all our difficulties and even through all of our praises and good times. And so we're going to sing this, and then we'll move on to our communion.

You were with us, kneeling on this battleground, seeing just how much you've done, knowing every victory. It's your power in us. Scars and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts can't say. Yes, our hearts can't say. Never once did we ever walk alone. Never once did you leave us on our own. You are faithful, God, you are faithful. Kneeling on this battleground, seeing just how much you've done. Knowing every victory is your power in us. Scars and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts can save. Yes, our hearts can save. Never once did we ever walk alone. Never once did You leave us on our own. You are faithful, God, You are faithful. You are faithful, God, You are faithful. But with joy our hearts can say Never once did we ever walk alone. Carried by Your constant race, held within Your perfect peace. Never once, knowing never walk alone.

Never once, did we ever walk alone. Never once, did You leave us on our own. You are faithful, God, You are faithful. Every step, we are breathing in Your grace. your grace, evermore we'll be free, email your praise. You are faithful, God, you are faithful. God, you are faithful. You are faithful. God, you are faithful. You are faithful. God, you are faithful.

God, you are faithful. That's why we keep this there. In 1 Corinthians, the 15th chapter, Paul unpacks both the gospel and the power of the resurrection. Beginning in verse 3, he summarizes the good news of the gospel in probably one of the most succinct ways in all of the New Testament, and he'll say this: "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with Scripture, and then he appeared to Cephas, and then to the twelve." So Paul, as he points the church toward what is most important, he will say that it's that Jesus died for our sins, he was buried, he rose again in accordance with Scripture, and then he appeared to a whole bunch of people.

And as we gather around the table this morning and we eat this little piece of bread and we drink this cup, the reformers will call things like baptism and the Lord's Supper visible words. And what they mean by that was that these activities that we do, things like being baptized and partaking of the Lord's Supper, they are giving us an image of the gospel. They are helping us to see the reality of the gospel. But this meal is not just simply a visible word or an object lesson, but it is a seal for God's people. Most states, when you have a product that's produced in your state, they have a seal they'll put on. They'll say, you know, made in Virginia, made in West Virginia, made in whatever state that is, and they have a seal for the state. So you know, that's where it came from.

Things like baptism and the Lord's Supper are a seal on God's people. And one of the things that this reminds us of is that God saves us. And I want to be very specific about this because it's not speaking in just sort of a general sense that God saves sinners. But when we partake of this bread and cup, we are reminded that the God's salvation is specifically for me. It's not just a general idea, but this is something that impacts us. And this meal reminds us that we are not alone. It reminds us that we are not alone in two ways. One is that we partake with our brothers and sisters in Christ. That this is the family meal of the church. That we, as we walk through this life, we walk together with God's people and we encourage and are encouraged. We help and are helped. We correct and we are corrected by God's people. But it reminds us that we belong to God.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 will say that the bread and cup are a participation in the body and blood of Jesus. They remind us that we are not alone. So, as we break this bread and drink this cup this morning, let's be reminded of the visible picture of our salvation, the body and blood of Jesus, and that this salvation applies to us specifically. And that as we walk through this life, that God is near and He has given us brothers and sisters in Christ. So, I'm going to pray and then we'll partake together. Father in heaven, thank you for how you have provided for us. Thank you for how you have loved us. I thank you for your word. I thank you for your church. I thank you for your people. And as we break this bread and as we drink this cup, may we see the reality of our salvation. May we be encouraged by the fact that we do not walk through this life alone.

I ask that you bless this bread and this cup. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Jesus, when He instituted the Lord's Supper, will take the bread, the bread that was saved for after dinner, and He will say, "This is my body." And then He'll say something very specific, "Which is for you?" Do this in remembrance of me. Let's remember the sacrifice of Jesus for us. Then He will take the cup. At Passover, it would have been the cup of redemption, reminding how God had brought His people out. He will say, Jesus will say, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes."

And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through, and said, "That's what he said." And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples, and he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." And Paul said, "Into what then were you baptized?" The disciples said, "Into John's baptism." And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him. That is Jesus." And since they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

There were about twelve men in all. And Paul entered the synagogues, and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the way before the congregation, Paul withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jew and Gentile. This is the word of the Lord. All right, let's go ahead and pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for your word. I thank you for what happens in Ephesus with your church. I thank you how this isn't just for the Ephesians, but for us. So encourage us this morning with how you equip your church. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

I remember when I had first moved here, and it was one of my first times going to buy groceries in sort of a bigger way. I was having some family come to visit, and I was like, "Well, you know, I'm all on my own. I'm going to show how independent I am. I'm going to make this meal." So I came up with my recipe, and it required a whole lot of spices. And having not spent a lot of time grocery shopping, I went to the grocery store, and instead of just going down the frozen pizza aisle, you know, I go over to like the baking goods, and I start, you know, I had like probably like 30 spices that I needed because I had nothing in my cabinets. And right, you start picking them up, and you fill up the cart with spices.

I go to the checkout, and I sort of stand there in shock as you can kind of see your total number, and it's like $6, $6, $6, $6. It was literally the most I had ever spent on groceries, probably in a month, in like three and a half minutes. And because it was all spices, it was like one grocery bag, right? It's like, here you go. Thank you very much. I was not prepared because I needed so many different things. And if you've ever tried to establish something where you didn't have all the sort of the staple ingredients, right, it becomes difficult because there's so many different things you need. When we consider how God has called us and the ministry that He has called us to, it can seem overwhelming, right? There's so many things we need. Our strength is so small. We're dealing with all of these different situations.

How do we go about doing it? We saw last week how God prepares. This week we're going to take a look at how God equips His church for ministry. And so God's going to get His church ready to go. So, three things I think that we need and we see God providing in our text this morning. First of all, sometimes we need to be taught, right? We need to know the truth. These first four verses say this: "And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples and he said to them, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' And they said, 'No, we haven't even heard there is a Holy Spirit.' And he said, 'Into what then were you baptized?'

And they said, 'Into John's baptism.' And Paul said, 'John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who is to come after him. That is Jesus.' And I remember when our oldest had gotten her first real two-wheeled bike and being ready to ride it. And we didn't just send her out to the church parking lot and say, 'All right, there's a bike. Go do it.' Right? We started very basically. You know, you teach, you sort of learn how to work the pedals. You've got training wheels on. You learn how to steer. You learn how to use the brakes. And then you sort of gradually reduce some of the training wheels. And eventually, there's Dad running along behind, trying not to have a heart attack, as she's learning to ride her bike and balance.

We learn how to get up when you crash into Dad's truck. There are a lot of things you have to learn, sort of gradually happening. And if we would have just left her to figure it out by herself, it probably never would have happened. In this text this morning, there's this complicated sort of circumstance. You've got about twelve guys. Luke calls them disciples, but they're not disciples of Jesus. They're disciples of John the Baptist. And then this text becomes sort of further complicated by the fact that you and I really like to read our own preferences and opinions into the text, rather than letting Scripture read its truth into our life. And so what you find is almost the entirety of church history, Christians have argued about baptism and re-baptism. They've argued about the gift of the Holy Spirit, oftentimes using this text as the centerpiece of their argument.

And instead of seeing the truth of God for the church in this text, we tend to use this as a bat just to hit those we disagree with. And so I want you to see that this text, and the purpose of this text, is to show that hope is realized. That hope is real. So these guys are disciples of John the Baptizer, and if you remember, John's mission was to prepare the way for the Messiah. His dad will say this of him: "And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness in the shadow of death that guide our feet into the way of peace."

And so that's who they were following, the one who was going to prepare and proclaim and get things ready for the Messiah. They believed there was a Messiah, but they hadn't seen the reality of that. John will say of Jesus, the next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. This is He of whom I said, "After me comes a man who ranks before me, because He was before me." Now probably all of us have had this experience where we've ordered something, and we're excited about it, and it hasn't arrived. So this year, for Valentine's Day, I had ordered something that Rachel had been kind of wanting. I found a great deal on it. The problem was that if I bought it from a place in the United States, it was like $30 more.

And so I found a place where I could order it. It was a lot cheaper. It was supposed to be delivered by Valentine's Day, which is good, because I tend to, when I order gifts for Rachel, if they come before the holiday, the birthday, whatever, I'll just give it to her as soon as it comes, because I'm really, really excited about it. And so I ordered this. I was like, "Man, I can't wait for your present to get here. I can't wait for it to get here." And then it doesn't show up, and it doesn't show up, and it doesn't show up, and finally, there's the box in the mail, and it arrived. So these people, these disciples of John, they knew there was a Messiah, and they were preparing for the Messiah. They've been baptized with this baptism of repentance. They were waiting, right? They knew it was coming, but they didn't know that it had already arrived.

And so they need to hear about Jesus. And so notice the point of these verses. The point of these verses is that Jesus must be at the center of the Christian life. And so that's what Paul tells them. He says, "Let me tell you about Jesus." And as I was thinking through this over the past couple weeks, sometimes I wonder if we adopt the same kind of attitude that these sort of twelve disciples of John had. Where we say, "Yeah, that's something that's in the future," right? And the reason they adopt that attitude is because they didn't know, right? They say, "We haven't even heard there is a Holy Spirit. We don't know about Pentecost. We don't know about the good news going to the nations." And here we are, 2,000 years later, and many of us in so many ways seem to think of our faith as something in the future rather than something that is right now.

The second thing that you see that we need is we need the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's pick up in verse 5. On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul laid his hand on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. And there were about 12 men in all. And so we're going through a time when gas, it seems like every time I drive by the gas station, it doesn't just go up 2 or 3 cents, right? It goes up 10, 20 cents. When we drive to a Nova tomorrow, you know, it's going to be like, you know, 70 expensive. And so I think one of the results that we're going to see, because gas is so expensive, is that probably a lot of us, in the hopes that maybe gas will be cheaper tomorrow,

are probably going to drive our cars maybe a little closer to empty or a little longer with that little yellow light on than we might do normally. And if you ever run out of gas, you kind of know it's coming, right? You know that the light's on, or then your car sort of stutters a little bit, and you drive. Maybe I can make it to the gas station, and then the next thing you know. You don't, right? You run out of fuel. We need the power of God to empower our lives and our ministry, right? Otherwise, as Christians, we just sort of sputter out, right? We end up empty. We end up discouraged. We end up struggling. And as we face the hurts and the brokenness of the world, we just say, "I don't know that I can do it."

Because we're depending upon our own strength. God doesn't just direct us through the teaching of His Word, but He empowers us through the ministry of the Spirit, right? The Spirit leads us. He guides us. He helps us pray. He encourages us. He matures us. He empowers us through His gifts. What you find is that the Spirit is what keeps us going. You might say, "Why these miraculous gifts? Why do these Christians end up with sort of this prophecy and these speaking of tongues?" I think it's the third time in the book of Acts where it happens. It happens with the Samaritans. It happens with the Gentiles. It happens here in Ephesus. One of the things that God does when He pours out His Spirit into our lives is He gives us what we need. One of the projects that I did this week is we needed a doorknob replaced downstairs.

I figured with all the limitations I have and what I'm supposed to do and what I can't do, I said, "I can turn a screwdriver. I can do that." I was over here last night, and it was cold, and I realized I didn't have any tools except a screwdriver, and I needed some other tools. I mean, they're like improvising with tools, and so the job that should have taken me about three and a half minutes with the right tools, right, ended up taking like 15 minutes, and I almost just like, "We don't even need a door anymore. Let's just throw it away," right? Because I didn't have what I needed. When God pours out His Spirit into the life of His people, He gives us what we need, right? And what a church here needs and a church here needs might be very, very different.

God doesn't improvise, right? If you need a hammer, He gives you a hammer. If you need a screwdriver, He gives you a screwdriver, right? If the church needs to speak to a whole bunch of people that need different languages, like in Acts 2, God empowers them for that gospel testimony. And one of the things that happens with these visible outpourings of the Spirit through prophecy in tongues, for example, with the Samaritans, it was a sign to the church these people really are Christians, right, because Jews and Samaritans didn't get along. And if God hadn't made it obvious, right, well, are they really Christians? The same with the Gentiles. We'll see next week the Ephesian church is in the midst of this spiritual battle. This is not just a physical confrontation that's happening in this town, but it's a spiritual one.

And they see the power of God poured out in their life. And so we need to be taught by the Word of God. We need the empowering of the Holy Spirit, and we need God to give us opportunities for the gospel. Let's pick up in verse 8. "And he entered the synagogue, and for about three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus." And so what you find is that, first of all, Paul here is given an opportunity to teach, right? And so he teaches boldly, meaning he doesn't hold back. He reasons, which means that he explained fully. He doesn't just simply say, "Believe it because I said it. Just have faith."

He explains it. He sort of lays out the foundations, likely from the Old Testament, of the Christian faith, going back to all of this evidence. And he doesn't just say, "Accept it," but he tells them why they should, right? Christianity should never be afraid of questions. He seeks to persuade. What this means is he answered their doubts. He answered their objections, showing the truth to these people. And he teaches not about Paul and his agenda, but about the kingdom of God. And he teaches there for three months. Now, this is remarkable, because this has to be close to a record for Paul not to get kicked out of a synagogue. In Antioch, in his first missionary journey, he makes it two weeks in the Sabbath. In Lystra, he won't even make it to the synagogue before he gets in trouble.

In Philippi, there is no synagogue. He's only there for three weeks as well. Thessalonica, he's three weeks before he gets kicked out of town, gets kicked out of Corinth because of all of this drama. And so here he is for three months preaching about Jesus in the synagogue. God gives him this opportunity to speak to those who already have a foundation. Secondly, Paul is given an opportunity to reach out. So most of us, I think, don't think about conflict and suffering and opposition as an opportunity. Most of us, when we go through those things, at least for me, it's an opportunity not to say, "What is God doing here?" but an opportunity for me to complain and to grumble, or in some cases use it as an excuse not to keep going, right? While it's just too difficult, if God wanted me to do it, he would have made it easier.

That's not what happens with Paul. By withdrawing from the synagogue, the message of the gospel is brought to more people. Because in the synagogue, it was just Jews, and when he leaves because of the opposition, what happens? He's able to speak to Greeks and to Romans and to all of these other people. So what seems like, on the surface, a terrible tragedy, "I've lost my place to preach," becomes a way to reach not just the town of Ephesus, but this entire region. But God also provides him a place to preach and to teach. He says he went to the lecture hall of tyranists. Now, if you're looking for a landlord, a guy whose name, if you put it in English, is tyrant, is probably maybe not the guy that you want. Most commentators think that he's the teacher who owns this lecture hall,

and that's what his students call him, right? If you've been to school and you had a really, really tough teacher, you always come up with like a nickname for him. It's like Ole Miss Battle Axe, right? That's what they're calling this guy. They're like, "He's the tyrant." It sounds like he's probably a pretty strict teacher. My Greek professor in college always used to lament that in the 1800s, Greek teachers were allowed to hit you if you didn't get the translation right, right? That's this kind of guy. And so he has this reputation, but what happens? Paul is then able for several years to be able to teach and preach. I want you to see God's purpose in all of this equipping. Look at what happens in 1910. This continued for two years. So that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Paul's ministry wasn't limited to one little town, but this entire region hears about Jesus. Paul will say that he did not cease day or night to admonish everyone with tears. For two of the three years he's in town, he teaches in the lecture hall of Tyrannus, likely for about five hours a day. The way this part of the world worked at that time was right in the middle of the day when it was too hot. Everybody would work early mornings and evenings in the middle of the day. You might go to a lecture hall. You might go home and take a nap. Whatever. Paul, in the middle of the day when nobody was doing something, get there, and he preached likely for about five hours a day, right? I've been up here for like 20 minutes, and I'm ready for a nap. Like, think five hours a day, and Paul is pouring his heart into this.

He's about to admonish everybody with tears. He's going house-to-house teaching as well. In Acts 20, he will say, "I was teaching you in public and from house to house." And in Acts 20:33, we find he's working a full-time job as well. "I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that with these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who are with me." And in addition to all of these things, it's likely that either he personally, or through the result of his ministry, starts the seven churches mentioned in Revelation chapter 2 and 3. He writes 1 Corinthians. He'll take some time off. He'll visit 1 Corinthians, not for a happy visit, but to correct them. And toward the end of his time in Ephesus, it's likely that he wrote the epistle to the Romans. And what starts, and the reason I say all these things,

is because what starts as him just going back to town, because he was there for a week and they said, "Please come back and teach us." What starts as him just going back to teach in the synagogue, turns into an entire region of the world hearing about Jesus. That's what God's purpose was. And God didn't just say, "Paul, go tell everybody in Asia about Jesus." What does he do? He equips him. He helps him. He empowers him. He gives him the opportunity. I think about what Paul writes to the Ephesian church, when he has that wonderful prayer, and he says, "Dad, to him who can do more than we can ask or imagine." Right? Paul, I don't think thought, going into Ephesus, that he would be there for three years. Longest place, longest time that he's spent anywhere. Starts a whole bunch of churches while he's there.

Writes a bunch of books of the Bible where he's there. Preaches so that the whole place hears about Jesus. And one of the things that I couldn't help but think of in regards to our lives is so many times when we ask God something, we ask in such a small way, not realizing that God can take Paul in this town that seems overwhelming, a big town full of idolatry, full of spiritual opposition, and God is stronger than our fears and our worries, and he equips his church. The second thing that I think is so important is we need to ask ourselves whose strength are we trusting in, right? Because if this is all on my shoulders, I can't do it. If it's all on your shoulders, you can't do it either. But if we trust in the power of God, if he is the one who strengthens us, who leads us,

who guides us, right, that changes everything. And third, when we see those gospel opportunities, they're not always big opportunities like, "Here's a lecture hall. Come teach for five days, five hours a day for two years." What are we doing with the opportunities that God has given us to share the gospel? If we really see the gospel as good news that has changed and transformed our lives, that gives us hope, that helps us with our fears, that assures us of the future, what are we doing with the opportunities that God has given us? Father in heaven, I thank you for your church and your word. Help us to see that we are not alone. Help us to see that you are the one who equips us for the ministry you've given us. That you've given us each a ministry. You've given each of us opportunities. You've given each of us your spirit.

And so help us to share the good news of the gospel. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to stand, and we're going to sing about Jesus. We're going to sing Living Hope.

How great the chasm that lay between us. How high the mountain I could not climb. In desperation, I turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night. Then through the darkness, your loving kindness tore through the shadows of my soul. The work is finished. The end is written. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Who could imagine so great a mercy? What heart could fathom such boundless grace? The God of ages stepped down from glory to wear my sin and bear my shame. And bear my shame. The cross has spoken. I am forgiven. The King of kings calls me His own. Beautiful Savior, I'm Yours forever. Jesus Christ, my living home. My living home. Hallelujah. Praise the One who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken aim. There's salvation in Your name. Jesus Christ, my living home.

Jesus Christ, my living home. Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your buried body began to breathe. Out of the silence, the roaring lion declared the grave has no claim. The grave has no claim on me. Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your buried body began to breathe. Out of the silence, the roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me. The grave has no claim on me. Jesus, yours is the victory. Hallelujah! Praise the One who set me free. Hallelujah! Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Hallelujah! Praise the One who set me free. Hallelujah! Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Oh, God, You are my living hope.

All right, just a few announcements as we wrap up this morning. We'll be back Wednesday night. We are in 1 Thessalonians. We're into this section of the book probably that Thessalonians is known the most for, talking about the return of Jesus and helping a church that's struggling to understand how Jesus returns. So that's where we are Wednesday night. Thursday, Ladies Bible Study here at the church at 1. So we invite you to join us for that. One of the things that I put in the email this past week, and if you're not signed up to that, you can just pass me your email address. We'll get you signed up. As we're kind of working on a couple different projects, a couple different things. We'll have some more information about some other things this week. But one of the things that we're working on before all this kidney stuff started,

we've been working on rewiring the nursery for some better sound and video. Also, Greg this week is, I guess, putting a new heater in there, and then we're going to be ready for a coat of paint that's not quite so dark and depressing. So if you like to paint, especially concrete block, and you don't like dark and depressing colors, come talk to me. We're looking for some volunteers. We also have some classrooms that have the opposite problem. Instead of being dark and depressing, they're a little too cheerful. So we want to kind of find kind of a balance in those. So if you're in a basement a lot during the past couple years because of COVID and being a little closer, but we'd like to start utilizing some of those places a little more. So we're working on kind of organizing and putting everything back together. So we're glad you joined us this morning here in person. And those of you who are watching online, we are very,

very, very thankful for you. I'm going to pray, and then we'll read from 2 Thessalonians, and then we'll sing the doxology. Father in heaven, thank you for your church and your people. Thank you for encouraging us with their presence and their encouragement. Thank you for the work of your spirit in our lives. Help us to see the opportunities you have given us for the gospel. Give us the strength and the courage to take those opportunities that we would proclaim the hope that we have to this world. Thank you for Jesus. It's in his name we pray. Amen. Paul writes this to the church in Thessalonica. He says, "Now may the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and our God, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word." Holy Ghost. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Amen. Amen.